The Holidays Are Also A Time For Saving! #kidworth

Of course you hear (all over) about the holidays being a time to spend. It would be rather difficult to avoid the bombardment of messages screaming at you to splurge. Most times much more than you have. I have known several people tell me how much the holidays cost them and I personally am amazed when people talk about the number of gifts they buy for each person. Not sure when 1 gift per person became a stingy concept. The pressure of pleasing everyone has also made many try to buy the most expensive gift, since that has to be the best, right? Why on earth would the statement “it’s the thought that counts” mean anything?

While saving your sanity may not be the easiest of tasks I do believe that saving financially at this time can go hand in hand with that. Since so much of glitter comes out during the holidays it may make sense to go small during the holidays and go bigger later, when all focus will be on your gift. You know when you wait with bated breath for a reaction but it sizzles out with the volume of other gifts the person receives? Consider gifts that run the year, whether it be wine, movie or magazine subscriptions. They are not as costly but you run the chance of being thought of throughout the year.

Consider saving by offering something more than a dinner gift certificate. How about the chance to eat dinner without the kids? Special favor “vouchers” are priceless and honestly if any of you had to offer me one of those, I would jump at it. Need to bake? Consider skipping the box mixes, and opt for doing it from scratch. Not only will it be cheaper but with all the ingredients bought in bigger quantities than you would get in a box it would mean you get more baked goods out of it. Also the act of making these with your kids is really the true gift. The added bonus? You end up skipping all those yucky additives if you make it from scratch.

Gift wrap is another pain. As beautiful as they look they cost money and end up in the trash. If you give your kids rolls of plain paper they would love decorating it for you to use as gift wrap. What a wonderfully creative outlet for them while you save money. The biggest upside? You can’t get anything more personal, or customized than special giftwrap.

With family and friends sometimes giving kids money, it may also be time to check out Kidworth, so kids can learn about saving too,

Disclosure: This post was written as part of my role as a Kidworth ( a site for setting, tracking and sharing intelligent goals with your kids) Ambassador.

1 Comment

I love the idea of making your own gift wrap. Kids do love painting. Stamps from potatoes would be another easy way to spruce up plain paper.

And I am so glad that you brought up coupons. I used to do this as a kid with no $ for gifts. My oldest child asked for coupons like those. Hers were Shopping Trip to Dick Blicks, Staples, Take me to Mall, let me spend $20 on useless things for my phone.